HWiNFOvs
CCleaner
CCleaner: If the requirement is routine maintenance and cleanup rather than sensor-level diagnostics
HWiNFO
Windows hardware information and sensor monitoring tool, free for personal use only
As of 31 August 2026, HWiNFO is free to use. The tool people use when they need to know what a sensor actually reads rather than what a vendor dashboard claims. Softwr lists it under Utilities. HWiNFO is made by REALiX, available on Windows.
Overview
What HWiNFO does
HWiNFO reports hardware detail and live sensor data on Windows: CPU and chipset identification, memory timings and SPD data, storage device details, GPU information and readings from every temperature, voltage, current, power and fan sensor the system exposes. Its sensor coverage is the widest available, largely because the developer adds support for new chips and motherboard controllers quickly, and it distinguishes readings that vendor tools merge or relabel, such as the several distinct temperature figures a modern CPU actually reports. That granularity is why it is the reference tool in overclocking, thermal testing and hardware review work. It logs to CSV for later analysis, exposes readings to overlays and stream tools, and has a shared-memory interface that other applications read for their own displays. When a laptop throttles or a workstation crashes under load, HWiNFO is the tool that shows which limit was reached and when, rather than the tool that says the machine is fine. The licence is the thing buyers get wrong. The free build is licensed for personal use only; using it inside a company, including by an IT department diagnosing employee machines, requires the paid edition. Pricing is not published in a way worth quoting, so treat it as a quoted purchase. It is also Windows only now that the DOS builds are gone, it is a diagnostic tool rather than a fleet monitoring system, and the sheer number of sensors it exposes is genuinely overwhelming for someone who just wants to know if a fan is working.
What people use it for
- Diagnosing thermal throttling or power limits on a laptop or workstation under real workloads
- Validating that a new cooler, thermal paste or fan curve changed anything measurable
- Logging sensor data across a long stress test to identify what preceded a crash
- Confirming exactly which hardware revision is inside a machine before ordering more of them
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about HWiNFO.
- The free build is licensed for personal use only, so an IT department running it on employee machines is out of compliance and needs the paid edition.
- It is Windows only, so mixed estates need a separate tool for macOS and Linux hardware diagnostics.
- It reports single machines rather than fleets, with no central console, so it answers a diagnostic question instead of monitoring an estate.
- The volume of sensors displayed is overwhelming without hardware knowledge, and readings with similar names measure genuinely different things, which leads to wrong conclusions.
- Sensor access requires a kernel-level driver and administrator rights, which anti-cheat systems and some hardened endpoint configurations block outright.
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of HWiNFO
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- HWiNFOvsGParted
GParted: When the hardware question is about disks and partitions rather than temperatures and power
Pricing
What HWiNFO costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
HWiNFO Personal
Free
- Full sensor and hardware detail
- Logging and alerts
- Personal, non-commercial use only
HWiNFO Pro
On request
- Licence required for any business or commercial use
- Per-seat licensing
- Priority support
- Pricing quoted by the vendor rather than published as a simple list
Capabilities
Features
Sensor coverage
Temperature, voltage, current, power, fan and clock readings from more sensors than any comparable tool
Hardware inventory
Detailed CPU, memory SPD, storage, GPU and chipset identification down to stepping and revision
Logging
Continuous CSV logging of every sensor for after-the-fact analysis of a crash or throttling event
Shared memory interface
Other applications and overlays read live readings without running their own drivers
Alerts
Threshold alerts and custom actions when a temperature or power limit is exceeded
Portable build
Runs without installation, which suits diagnostics on machines you do not own
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
Can I use the free version at work?
No. Free use is personal only. Any business use, including internal IT diagnostics, requires the paid licence.
Does it run on macOS or Linux?
No. It is Windows only; the older DOS builds are discontinued.
Why do temperatures differ from the motherboard utility?
Because vendor tools usually show one averaged figure while HWiNFO reports each sensor separately. The difference is labelling and selection, not accuracy.
Is it safe to run alongside other monitoring tools?
Usually, but several tools polling the same sensors through their own drivers can cause conflicts and bad readings. Run one at a time when the numbers look wrong.
Keep looking
Where to go from HWiNFO
- HWiNFO alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- HWiNFO pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- HWiNFO badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Utilities softwareThe full category
- Best Utilities softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Utilities software for
Compare HWiNFO with
- GParted
- CCleaner
- WizTree
- CrystalDiskInfo
- AutoHotkey
- WinDirStat
- TreeSize
- Karabiner-Elements
- Rclone
- BetterTouchTool
- Deluge
- Kap
- VTScada
- Yelp
- Syncthing
- balenaEtcher
- WizTree
- WinDirStat
Other Utilities software
Windows disk space analyser that reads the NTFS master file table, scanning a drive in seconds
Free plan12 researched notesFree Windows tool that reads S.M.A.R.T. data from drives and warns before they fail
Open source12 researched notesWindows scripting language for hotkeys, text expansion and desktop automation
Open source8 researched notesWindows disk usage analyser that shows where space went as a colour-coded treemap
Open source12 researched notesWindows disk space analyser whose free edition may be used commercially, with paid tiers for scheduled reporting
Free plan12 researched notesFree open source keyboard remapper for macOS, working at driver level before the OS sees a keystroke
Open source11 researched notesCommand line sync and mount tool for around 70 cloud storage providers
Open source10 researched notesMac gesture, shortcut and automation customisation tool sold as a one-time licence with a lifetime tier
From $12/one-time11 researched notesFree open source BitTorrent client with true thin-client architecture for remote daemon control
Open source11 researched notesFree open source screen recorder for macOS, focused on video and GIF capture rather than annotation
Open source11 researched notesSCADA software for water, wastewater and remote telemetry with a published price list
From $3,395/one-time12 researched notesLocal business reviews and search app whose real business is advertising and first party lead data
Free plan9 researched notesWindows disk space analyser that reads the NTFS master file table, scanning a drive in seconds
Free plan12 researched notesWindows disk usage analyser that shows where space went as a colour-coded treemap
Open source12 researched notes
Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for HWiNFO, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on HWiNFO
HWiNFO alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
HWiNFO pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare HWiNFO
Put it head to head with anything we hold
HWiNFO badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
Best Utilities software alternatives
Domino's Pizza ordering app with Piece of the Pie Rewards, built to route orders away from delivery marketplace commissions
Free app, revenue from purchasesFree open source BitTorrent client with true thin-client architecture for remote daemon control
Open source, no licence fee
Apple's built-in app for locating devices, AirTags and shared people locations
Free, built into Apple hardware and iCloud
Visual search that identifies objects, text, plants, products and translates text from the camera
Free, bundled into other Google apps
Central irrigation control and water management for municipalities, schools and universities
quote
Telemetry SCADA for geographically distributed water, oil and gas assets, formerly ClearSCADA
quote
Paid Mac screenshot and screen recording tool with annotation, scrolling capture and cloud sharing
One-time purchaseMac gesture, shortcut and automation customisation tool sold as a one-time licence with a lifetime tier
One-time purchase